Thanksgiving

When I was growing up, no Thanksgiving meal was complete without cranberries. Unfortunately, it was canned cranberry sauce. And “sauce” isn’t the right word. It was actually more like cranberry gelatin. Yuck. (If you like it, that’s fine, you can have my share of it.)

This is real cranberry relish. Fast and easy, healthy and delicious. Give it a try!

Cranberry RelishServes 6-81 pound fresh cranberries, washed1 apple, quartered and cored1 navel orange, peeledSweetener, to balance tartness. Depending on the sweetness of the apple and orange, this may not be needed.

Place all ingredients in food processor. Process until evenly chunky. Chill and serve.

1.Preheat oven to 425F2.Lay bread slices on counter. Spray lightly with cooking spray.3.Sprinkle lightly with sage, onion, garlic, pepper and celery salt.4.Lay on cookie sheets in oven, until beginning to brown and are dry (about 30 minutes).5.When toasted, cut into small cubes. Set aside in a large bowl.6.In a large non-stick skillet, heat over med-high.7.Add olive oil. When hot (the oil should shimmer) add onion and celery.8.Saute until the onion begins to turn translucent (2-4 minutes.)9.Add garlic. Saute for 1 minute.10.Add 1 teaspoon rubbed sage, 1/4 teaspoon each celery salt (or powder) and black pepper. Saute for 1 minute.11.Pour onion-celery mixture over bread cubes.12.Pour half the chicken stock, gently mixing. Add more stock as needed. Mixture should be evenly moistened, but not soupy. (If you add more stock, and it doesn’t get absorbed, that is too much. Pour it off.)13.If you still need more liquid, you can use hot water, or any preferred liquid for added flavor: beer, wine, apple juice/cider.14.Preheat to 350.15.Put stuffing a 2 quart casserole, sprayed with cooking spray for easy clean up.16.Bake uncovered until hot (30-45 minutes.)

A few notes:I use my own homemade chicken stock, which has no added salt. That accounts for the low sodium numbers in this recipe. You can use commercially prepared stock, but it will have more sodium. On the other hand, you can find fat free chicken stock, which will result in even lower calories per serving because mine isn’t fat free. (Everything is a trade-off.)